Category: Pocket Padding

State Department Posts on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Raise Ethics Concern

Trump Mar a Lago resort

A glowing description of President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago — calling it the “winter White House” — was posted on State Department websites, bringing criticism from ethics watchdogs and Democrats.

The item, published ahead of an early April meeting with China’s president at the Palm Beach club, recounted the club’s history and Trump’s purchase and gilded redecoration of the property where he’s spent half his weekends since taking office.

Under the heading “A Dream Deferred” — drawing on a famous line from the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem” — it said the original socialite owner wanted Mar-a-Lago to be a retreat for American presidents but notes it didn’t happen until Trump won the election.

The text appeared on the website for Share America, a State Department platform intended to “spark discussion and debate on important topics;” the website for the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom and the Facebook page for the U.S. Embassy in Albania.

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was among those taking to Twitter to question whether the posts violated government ethics rules.

The State Department initially declined to comment on the posts, but later unpublished them and said, “The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the President has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post.”

Three ethics watchdogs who reviewed the posts before they were taken down told NBC News they were troubling.

“They represent violations of a federal ethics regulation which prohibits the use of public office to endorse a product or enterprise,” said Kathleen Clark, a professor at Washington University Law.

“Calling it the ‘winter White House’ appears to suggest that Mar-a-Lago has an official governmental role, which would appear to provide a governmental endorsement.”

Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the post “reads almost like an ad for Mar-a-Lago.”

“If they weren’t trying to drive business there, you have to wonder what they were doing,” said Libowitz, who has previously sued Trump over other alleged ethics violations.

John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation said it didn’t matter that the context for the posts was Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.

“Publishing promotional materials for the President’s private business is clearly inappropriate, whether he is using it for official business or not,” he said. “There is only one White House. If you’re telling the story of Mar-a-Lago, it’s the president’s private business.”

Mar-a-Lago has been a lightning rod for those accusing the Trump administration of conflicts of interest.

While Trump has turned over control of his businesses to his sons, critics have pointed out that initiation fees were doubled to $200,000 after his election and that the president’s frequent appearances there could provide unique access to him for those who can pay.

An encounter between Trump and two former Colombian presidents, who were invited by a Mar-a-Lago member, also raised questions — with the White House denying there was a secret meeting to discuss opposition to a Colombian peace deal with revolutionaries.

As NBC News has reported, since his January inauguration, Trump has spent seven of 14 weekends at Mar-a-Lago and at least 28 percent of his term traveling to or staying at the estate.

(h/t NBC News)

Update

The State Department has since removed the post.

Ivanka’s Company Won Approval for Chinese Trademarks on the Same Day She Dined with President Xi

Ivanka Trump’s $100 million made-in-Asia clothing line got a boost in early April when the Chinese government granted Donald Trump’s daughter with new trademarks. From the Associated Press:

On April 6, Ivanka Trump’s company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world’s second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

What a coincidence, right? The same day Ivanka Trump is rubbing elbows with the President of China and his wife, the Chinese government makes moves favorable to her company and her wallet. Needless to say, this is running into an ethically murky, swamp-like area:

Using the prestige of government service to build a brand is not illegal. But criminal conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials, like Trump and her husband, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouse. Some argue that the more her business broadens its scope, the more it threatens to encroach on the ability of two trusted advisers to deliver credible counsel to the president on core issues like trade, intellectual property, and the value of the Chinese currency.

“Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while you’re in government,” advised Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush.

Hitting the pause button on the pursuit of international trade deals and overseas construction projects seems like the least the Trump family should be doing to separate themselves from their businesses while they oversee the people’s business.

Based on booming sales, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Some retail chains have decided not to carry Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, but her company reports online sales are at a record high. After Kellyanne Conway’s unethical sales pitch on Fox & Friends, in which she instructed viewers to buy Ivanka’s clothing online, the company reported a 207 percent increase in online orders in February. The same week President Xi dined with Ivanka Trump at Mar-a-Lago, a huge shipment from China arrived in the U.S.:

The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records.

As North Korea Brews, Trump Again in Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump arrived for another weekend at his languid Florida resort on Thursday, this time without the usual retinue of top aides who have accompanied him in the past, even as global tensions flare.

Trump’s jaunt to Mar-a-Lago, his seventh since taking office in January, coincides with a closely watched anniversary in North Korea, where analysts have said the rogue regime may be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.

It wouldn’t be the first time Trump confronted a global incident from the confines of his terra-cotta-roofed oceanfront mansion.

During a visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this year, North Korea test fired ballistic missiles, prompting an impromptu strategy session on Mar-a-Lago’s dining patio. Last weekend, as Trump was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping, he announced US missile strikes from Mar-a-Lago after conferring with top aides in a specially designed conference room.

A White House official said aides from the National Security Council were accompanying Trump during his trip to Florida this weekend, and the secure facility — kitted out with video-conferencing technology and other classified features — stands at the ready.
But other top aides, including senior advisers and Trump’s chief of staff, were spending the holiday weekend back in Washington.

On Thursday afternoon, Trump boarded Air Force One solo. Reince Priebus, his chief of staff, escorted the President to Joint Base Andrews in his armored limousine but didn’t make the trip to Florida. Priebus said he had “things to go over with him for next week so I jumped in the motorcade,” but wasn’t scheduled to fly south for the weekend.

A White House official said the staffing footprint at Mar-a-Lago would be “very light” because it’s a holiday weekend, suggesting Easter would be a chance for Trump to spend time with his wife and children and so that top staffers could spend time with their own families.

But even amid his restful stay in South Florida, Trump could find himself confronting another provocative move from North Korea. The birthday Saturday of the nation’s founder could prompt the country to conduct its sixth nuclear test, according to experts.

It would be the first test under the Trump administration, and his response will be scrutinized in Pyongyang and Washington. Trump has spoken out aggressively against North Korea this week, saying that his recent meeting with China’s Xi made him realize how complicated the problem was.

Speaking Thursday, Trump said he wasn’t sure if his administration’s decision to drop a “Mother of all Bombs” on an ISIS enclave in Afghanistan was meant as a display of American resolve to North Korea.

“I don’t know if this sends a message,” Trump said at the White House. “It doesn’t make any difference if it does or not. North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of.”

Trump said he’d gained important cooperation from Xi during their talks last weekend and in subsequent phone calls.

“I will say this, I think China has really been working very hard and I have really gotten to like and respect, as you know, President Xi. He’s a terrific person,” Trump said. “We spent a lot of time together in Florida and he’s a very special man so we’ll see how it goes.”
Administration officials maintain that Trump will be kept well informed of activity in North Korea by his team, should the need arise, and will continue to be updated through the weekend.

It was standard practice in the Bush and Obama administrations for a senior national security aide (often at the deputy national security adviser level or higher) to always travel with the president, including on vacations.

One former senior administration official said this was key advice that the Bush team offered the Obama team during that transition. Physical proximity to the President during a national security event was seen as critical for decision-making and keeping the president informed.

A senior White House foreign policy aide told reporters Thursday that, broadly, military options were already being assessed with regard to North Korea, and those options would arise during Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Asia this week.
Pence is due to arrive in Seoul on Sunday.

(h/t CNN)

Melania Trump Wins Damages From Daily Mail Over ‘Escort’ Allegation

The UK’s Daily Mail newspaper has agreed to pay damages and costs to the first lady of the United States over an article about her modelling career.

The newspaper had reported allegations that Melania Trump once worked as an escort, but later retracted the claims.

The story was published during the US election campaign last year.

Mrs Trump accepted damages and an apology from the newspaper at London’s High Court.

She filed lawsuits against the Daily Mail newspaper in the United Kingdom, and its digital operation Mail Online in the United States.

The US suit, filed last year, sought damages of $150m (£120m). The amount accepted by Mrs Trump in London was not disclosed in court.

However, reports suggest the payout was closer to $3m, including legal costs and damages. It is understood it will also settle the case in New York.

In its apology, the Daily Mail acknowledged it had published “allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling”.

The article also claimed that Mr and Mrs Trump may have met three years before they actually did, and later “staged” their first meeting.

“We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true,” the newspaper said.

A lawyer for Mrs Trump told the London court the allegations “strike at the heart of the claimant’s personal integrity and dignity”.

Her lawyer said the double-page spread in August last year, titled “Racy photos and troubling questions about his wife’s past that could derail Trump”, featured an old nude photo of Mrs Trump from her modelling career.

“Readers of the newspaper that day could not fail to miss the article,” he said.

And so the mighty Mail titles have been Trumped.

Well, almost. There are people in the legal profession flabbergasted at the size of the damages that Melania Trump has received from Associated Newspapers.

But given some of the figures bandied about when this case first arose, that isn’t as bad as some at the Mail group may have feared.

Moreover, the Mail are pointing out that they stick by some aspects of their original story, but accept error on the most salacious: that the First Lady was an escort.

It will be interesting to see if this settlement encourages others to be more aggressive toward UK papers, and also whether it helps to spread the trend for legal action across multiple jurisdictions.

Charles Harder, Mrs Trump’s lawyer, also acted for Hulk Hogan when the wrestler brought his $140m (£112m) case against Gawker Media, forcing its sale.

Compared to that, this action is small fry.

Mrs Trump’s lawsuit initially said that Mrs Trump had the “unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which [she] is one of the most photographed women in the world”.

Critics used the phrasing to question whether Mrs Trump had plans to make financial gains from her position as first lady.

A second version of the suit, re-filed weeks later, dropped the controversial wording.

Mrs Trump was born Melanija Knavs, in Sevnica, a small town about an hour’s drive from Slovenia’s capital of Ljubljana.

She was signed to a modelling agency in her late teens, and began flying around Europe and the US, appearing in high-profile ad campaigns.

She met Donald Trump in 1998, when she was 28 years old, at a party during New York Fashion week.

They married seven years later.

(h/t BBC News)

Trump Advertises Mar-a-Lago’s Chocolate Cake in Interview

Donald Trump informed the Chinese president that he had launched missile strikes on Syria as the pair ate “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you have ever seen”, the US president has claimed.

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump offered his first account of how he had broken the news to Xi Jinping as they dined at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at the start of a two-day bridge-building summit last Thursday.

“I was sitting at the table. We had finished dinner. We are now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you have ever seen. And President Xi was enjoying it,” Trump said.

“And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded. What do you do? And we made a determination to do it. So the missiles were on the way.

“And I said: ‘Mr President, let me explain something to you … we’ve just launched 59 missiles, heading to Iraq [sic] … heading toward Syria and I want you to know that.’

“I didn’t want him to go home … and then they say: ‘You know the guy you just had dinner with just attacked [Syria].’”

Asked how the leader of China, which alongside Russia has repeatedly blocked UN resolutions targeting the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, had reacted, Trump said: “He paused for 10 seconds and then he asked the interpreter to please say it again – I didn’t think that was a good sign.”

“And he said to me, anybody that uses gases – you could almost say, or anything else – but anybody that was so brutal and uses gases to do that to young children and babies, it’s OK. He was OK with it. He was OK.”

China has sought to portray last week’s summit – which came after months of tension between Trump’s administration and Beijing – as a resounding triumph.

“The meetings, positive and fruitful, mark a new starting point for the world’s most important bilateral relationship,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said in a typically-glowing commentary.

All mention of the US strikes on Syria was relegated from the front pages of state-run newspapers in a bid to prevent Trump’s dramatic military intervention overshadowing Xi’s visit.

Bill Bishop, a Washington-based China expert who tracks the country’s political scene on his Sinocism newsletter, said Beijing would not have welcomed Trump’s decision to break the news over dessert.

“The Chinese generally hate those kinds of surprises. The Chinese would have preferred it hadn’t happened while they were in the US. Clearly it overshadowed the summit,” he said.

But Bishop said Beijing had still managed to capitalise on the Mar-a-Lago meeting by spinning Xi as “Trump’s equal” in China’s domestic media. Beijing would also commemorate how the Syria strikes had driven a wedge between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“The Chinese have been a little bit worried about some kind of grand bargainwhere the US pivots away from Asia and creates some kind of alliance in Russia against China,” he said.

“So anything, frankly, that increases tensions between the US and Russia and anything that perhaps drags America into a Middle Eastern quagmire is actually pretty good for China because the US is distracted.

“It’s an unsolvable problem. If the US gets sucked into another conflict in the Middle East, it is less likely that the US is going to be focused or have the capacity to really pressure China on certain issues.”

China’s leaders had been losing sleep over Trump’s regular bouts of Beijing-bashing and his decision to make Peter Navarro – who has described China as a “despicable, parasitic, brass-knuckled and totally totalitarian power” – the head of his National Trade Council.

But Bishop said Chinese officials had been encouraged by Navarro’s apparent absence from the Mar-a-Lago talks.

Speaking to Fox Business, Trump claimed he had hit it off with the Chinese president. He said: “I really liked him. We had a great chemistry, I think … Maybe he didn’t like me but I think he liked me … we understand each other.”

Trump had less kind words for Assad. “This is an animal,” he said.

(h/t The Guardian)

Media

Trump Spotted at Florida Golf Club

President Trump was spotted playing golf on Sunday for the second day in a row at his West Palm Beach, Fla. golf club, according to reports.

The president also traveled to Trump International Golf Club for a round of golf on Saturday.

The president left for Trump International Golf Club around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday wearing a white polo shirt and red cap, according to White House pool reports.

Trump on Thursday left the White House for Mar-a-Lago where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi left the resort on Friday afternoon, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Trump left the golf club at 2:30 p.m., according to pool reports. Trump is scheduled to return to Washington later on Sunday,

(h/t The Hill)

Appearance of Trump Helicopter at Mar-a-Lago Raises Questions

President Trump’s personal helicopter spent the weekend parked in a prime spot on the front lawn of Mar-a-Lago, despite the fact that Trump is barred from using it while president.

The Palm Beach Daily News reported that the Sikorsky S-76, with “TRUMP” emblazoned on the tail and step, landed on the club’s newly paved helipad Saturday afternoon. Palm Beach Fire-Rescue spokesman Sean Baker told the paper that the Secret Service requested a fire engine to be on standby.

“We were surprised,” Baker said. “This was not something we knew was coming.”

The helicopter remained on the helipad Sunday, but left after a few hours. The White House didn’t respond to questions about the reason the helicopter was there. Baker said he did not know what the helicopter would be used for and said there were no reports of anyone arriving or being picked up by the helicopter Saturday.

The Secret Service says standard security protocol requires the president to fly on either Air Force One, a jumbo jet, or Marine One, a helicopter. The agency says Trump was never on the helicopter, though the president has not used Marine One for his visits to the resort.

Trump owns two Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, which also bear his family seal.

(h/t Fox News)

Donald Trump Personally Profited From Missile-Maker Raytheon’s Stock Jump After His Syria Attack

While the world is dealing with both the implications and the fall-out from President Donald Trump’s missile attack on a Syrian airfield on Thursday, the manufacturer of the Tomahawk missile used in the attack is seeing their stock surge which is good news for their investors — including the president.

As noted by the Palmer Report, Trump owns stock in Raytheon, which was reported by Business Insider in 2015.

According  to Trump’s financial disclosure reports filed with the FEC in 2015, his stock portfolio includes investments in  technology firms, financial institutions and defense firms, including Raytheon.

On Thursday, Trump launched an attack on the al-Shayrat military airfield, used by both Syrian and Russian military forces, hitting it with 59 Tomahawk missiles manufactured by Raytheon. Trump’s attack on Syria was reportedly in response to a deadly gas attack launched by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against his own people earlier in the week.

While the Tomahawk attack did little damage to the airfield — with the Syrian air force  continuing to launch assaults from the same base on Friday — investors, sensing an increasing escalation in tensions between two countries and the possibility of war , pushed Raytheon stock up.

Since taking office, Trump has refused to divulge all of his financial information — including his income taxes — and refused to place his business and financial holdings in a blind trust allowing Trump and his family to move money and investments around as they see fit.

(h/t Raw Story)

Donald Trump Takes 15th Golf Trip in 11 Weeks Since Becoming President

Donald Trump is taking his 15th golf trip in the 11 weeks since becoming President, as he spends another weekend at one of his own luxury resorts.

The President is coming off the back of a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has closed a sixth of his country’s golf courses since 2011 and will not play a sport which maintains a reputation for decadence and corruption in China.

But President Xi left the President’s luxury Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday night, and by Saturday morning Mr Trump was on the links at his International Golf Club in Florida, the White House press pool was informed.

During a campaign rally last year, Mr Trump referred to a string of his golf clubs when claiming: “You know what – and I love golf – but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again, I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again, I own Doral in Miami, I don’t think I’d ever see many of the places that I have.

“I don’t ever think that I’d see anything, I just wanna stay in the White House and work my ass off, make great deals, right? Who’s gonna leave? I mean, who’s gonna leave?”

He is now back on the green for the 15th time since 20 January. The trip also marks the 10th weekend in a row President Trump has spent at one of his own properties.

Thanks in particular to increased security bills at the waterfront Mar-a-Lago resort, he is on course to spend more on travel in a single year than the $97 million Barack Obama spent during his eight years in office.

The billionaire has already racked up $23 million in travel bills, at roughly 10 times the rate of his predecessor.

While still a private citizen, the billionaire tycoon repeatedly criticised former President Barack Obama for playing golf rather than attending to his presidential duties.

“Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.,” he wrote in one 2014 tirade.

In a similar attack back in 2013, Fox News pundit and staunch Trump backer Sean Hannity wrote: “Glad our arrogant Pres is enjoying his taxpayer funded golf outing after announcing the US should take military action against Syria.”

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s cruise missile barrage against a Syrian air base, the tweet is being re-circulated on social media.

(h/t The Independent)

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Meeting With China’s Xi Jinping Raises Ethics Concerns

President Trump’s first face-to-face meeting today with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, will take place at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s family-owned resort in Florida. The laid-back setting is meant to give the two world leaders a chance to build a rapport, but government ethics experts question whether that’s appropriate.

Past presidents have hosted key leaders at government-owned properties like Camp David, but Mr. Trump is giving a personal touch for Xi.

The U.S.-China relationship has been under pressure over trade, North Korea and China’s expansion in the South China Sea.

As a candidate, Mr. Trump repeatedly blasted China, accusing Beijing of unfair trade practices that he equated to “rape” and “theft,” reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.

“We give state dinners to the heads of China. I said, ‘Why are you doing state dinners for them?’ They’re ripping us left and right,” Mr. Trump said.

Today the president tries to reboot the relationship by welcoming China’s president and his wife to Mar-a-Lago.

“It’s a venue that connotes the U.S. president is interested in building a personal relationship with Xi Jinping,” said Evan Medeiros, former National Security Commission China director in the Obama administration.

Between trade disputes and the threat of North Korea, the two leaders have plenty to discuss. But exactly where those conversations take place became a concern to Congress after Mr. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared to openly discuss North Korea’s missile test over dinner in February.

The government accountability office has now agreed to probe whether Mar-a-Lago has a secure space for classified communications, the type of Secret Service screening measures used on resort guests, and how the government ensures travel-related expenses are fair and reasonable.

“I’m meeting with the president of China on Thursday and Friday in Palm Beach, Florida, and I think we’re going to have a very interesting talk,” Mr. Trump said.

Also in question is whether the Trump family financially benefits from such a high-profile visit.

“The visit and the visit of the foreign leader attracts large amount of publicity, not just domestically but internationally,” government ethics specialist Kathleen Clark said.

Mr. Trump gave up the position of club president before inauguration. His son, Donald Trump Jr., now holds that title, according to a Florida alcohol license obtained by CBS News.

“When President Trump arranges to meet a foreign leader at one of his branded properties like Mar-a-Lago, what he is doing is he is actually using government office for private gain,” Clark said.

The White House has not responded to inquiries about whether or not the Chinese delegation will pay for any services while visiting Mar-a-Lago.

(h/t CBS News)

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